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May 30, 1933- c. E. HAMILTON, sR 1,911,617

FLATWORK IRONER May 30, 1933. c. E. HAMILTON, sR

FLATWORK IRONER Filed Jan. 20, 1930 `2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sil nur

INVENTOR Car/es Edu/ff? Ham/fon, 5r

' ATTGRN'EY Patented May 30, 1933 UNITED s'raras sereni series CHARLESEDWIN HAMILTON, SR., 0F HOLLYWOOID, CALIFORNIA,ASSIGNOIR TOVEDW LANE,PERCY MENDELSON, AND CHARLES MENDELSON, ALL OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FLATWORK IRONER Application filed January 539, 1930. Serial No. 421,892.

The invention relates to laundry and dry cleaner machinery, moreespecially to socalled iiat work ironers of eithervthe chest or cylindertype of iroiier. y

It has for its object means for directing the work leaving one roll tothe succeeding roll, and more especially toV eliminate the unsightlystring marks from the work, being particularly adaptable to laundrymachinery wherein the work is stripped from the rolls by suitableflexible stripper devices, for example, in the manner more particularlyset forth in my lDatent 1,867,741 granted to me July 19, 1932. Throughthe use of such stripper devices no string marks areu present in tliefinished work even whenstrings ork the like are employed in connectionwith the first roll-all traces thereof being obliterated by the actionof the subsequent rolls.

A further object of the invention resides inA means to enhance theeffectiveness of operation of the machinery by kpreventing the workfro-m rising unduly in the space between the successive rolls of theironer, and thus obviate temporary shut-downs and work turnbacks. Theinvention is more particularly adaptable-to ironing machines in whichpro- Y vision has been made for preventing the Bill dropping down or'backwardly from a roll of'its cover cloth which is lapped thereon, forexample, by means of guard members and in the manner set forth in 'myaforesaid patent.

In carrying out the invention, there is associated with' the usual rollsof a flat-work ironer, provided with suitable guard or binder memberslocated longitudinally thereof at required intervals and bearingrbotlion the feed and delivery sides of a roll to insure the retentionof acover cloth firmly thereon as well as to prevent said cover cloth fromdropping down or baclrwardly, extensions or guide toes or lilre membersarranged to project outwardly from-these guard or binder members both atthe feed side of a roll and atjits delivery side;

These guide toes arebowed to conform to the steam chest periphery andareadapted to engage with the Work fed to a roll as it issues therefrom inthe event of its rising beyond a' predetermined distance, as well asserving to assist in the progress of the `Work betweeni rolls. The saidguide toes, vmoreovenare. arranged to yield in case of unavoidable jam,either through their inherent elasticity or; that of a carryingguardmember or in beingi flexibly or hinge'dly connected therewith;`

rEhe nature of the invention, however, willv best beunderstoo'd whendescribed inV con-1 nection with the accompanyingdrawings, inwhich: Y

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of aflatV work iro'ner equipped witht-hefn'ovell work-directing means. j F'g. 2 is a fragmentary verticalsection ings, and on an enlarged scale. y. Fig. 3 is a fragmentarylongitudinal sec-; tion through a fiat work ironer and illustrates theapplication of the novel guidingl members thereto. v Y 'j Fig. l is anenlarged vertical section through aroll and combined guard and-guidemember, with portion of work passing therethrough in the directionindicatedby the arrows. t

Referring to the drawings, the inventioni's illustrated, by way ofexample, as applied to an ironing machine of the chest type having aplurality of ironing rolls 10 which are adapted to iron fiat work, suchas bed and" table linen, etc. The said rolls to this end v arejournalled for rrotation abovea. steamheated chest 11, the surface ofwhich immediately beneath each roll is generally concave to securegreater ironing contact.` -Noclaimis made to the apparatus per se,thejsame'being of any well-known or specialdesign andi provided V'withstandard mechanism (not shownyfor rotating the individual rolls.` Y

These rolls are covered with a cloth covering 12, usually hair padding,wool pad' ding or matted padding which is frictionally held thereon bybeing wound thereover with lapped portion 18 to insure 'retentionof thecover on the roll surface. Said cover cloth, particularly at the lapped'portion 13, has a tendency to work `away from the under`i` lying clothportion on the return travel; and provisionhas been made, in theapplication' SUL" of suitable guard or binder members let thereto, toprevent this breaking away and doubling over, as is more fully set forthin my said Patent 1,867,741.

These guard members aie associated with the individual rolls, as shown,and extend over substantially the exposed portion of a roll to bear bothupon the feed and delivery sides thereof, serving to retain the covercloths thereon, and are disposed longitudinally of a roll preferablyequidistantly at the required intervals.

As a convenient means of thus positioning the various guard members,brackets 15 extend longitudinally over the ends of a roll, being securedto the side frame pieces 1G of the ironing machine; and the saidbrackets support also a hollow triangular holding member 17 positionedover a roll parallell to its longitudinal axis and held to therespective brackets by means of upright supports or posts 18 screwedthereto and beveled at the top. The side walls of member 17 are broughttogether over said beveled portion and are secured at their upper edgesto close the niem-vr ber, as by riveting. Angle pieces 19, furthermore,are-attached to the underside of the member 17 to hold between theirdownwardly directed sides, as by means of a Cotter pin 20, Vanupwardly-turned slotted spur 21 of supports 22 to which the guardmembers are welded. The said guard members7 moreover, are preferably ofresilient material and more or less semi-circular in form to coversubstantially the exposed portion of the roll with which they coact. Y

Stripper members 23 are also shown associated'with a roll, on thedelivery side thereof to strip from themthe work2el as it passes fromone roll to the next, all of which is more particularly set forth in myaforesaid patent. These stripper fingers may conveniently be secured bynotching the inner ends thereof as at 25 and inserting the same throughcorresponding slots 26 inthe corresponding side ofthe hollow holdingmember 17.

In the operation of flat work ironers in which the usual Vendlesswork-conveying members, as cords or tapes, are dispensed with in wholeor in part and stripper members, as the fingers 23, substitutedtherefor, there may be a tendency for the work to rise between rollsabove'the surface of the steam chest, yfor example, as indicated in Fig.4 of the drawings, and particularly at the feed side of a roll.k Y

In accordance with the invention there are, therefore, provided guidetoes 30 at the feed side of a roll, which toes may be associated withthe corresponding guard members 14 either integrally or in beinghingedly secured thereto; and the same are designed to yield undersufficientV pressure 'as in being inherent- Y ly flexible or flexibly orhingedly connected with the corresponding guard member.

F or example, the end of a guard member at the feed side may becontinued substantially horizontally outwardly over the steam chestperiphery and curved to conform substantially thereto, the extreme outerportion of the extension being turned over, as at 31, to afford a smoothedge. It is preferred, also, to provide a correspondingprojectingportion or toe 32 at the delivery end of a guard member, in accordancewith the arrangement set forth in my aforesaid patent, and theprojecting toe from the guard member of one roll is then arranged tocoact with the corresponding projecting toe member of the succeedingroll to substantially bridge the intervening space, as is more clearlyset forth in Fig. 8 of the drawings. These coacting toes are arranged,preferably,to then lie adjacently each other and the one on the feedside slightly above the plane of the coacting toe to avoid obstructingthe flow of the work, and thus serve, also, to limit the rise of workpassing from one roll to the next and guiding it thereto if required,being displaced from the chest surface a distance to permit normally thework to pass freely from roll to roll.

By the foregoing expedient, the eectiveness of the operation of theironer is greatly enhanced in that shut-downs and turnbacks areobviated; and the arrangement is particularly suitable for use inlaundry and dry vcleaner machinery not provided with the usual endlesswork-conveying cords or tapes, being thus especially-adaptable tomachinery equipped with flexiblework-stripping fingers.

1. In a flat work ironer, including a succession of ironing rolls withlapped cover cloth:

guard members associated with the individ- Y ual rolls, extending oversubstantially the exposed portion of a roll and bearing upon both thefeed and delivery sides thereof to retain zontally therefrom over aportion only of the intervening roll space at the feed side of a roll,

andV at the delivery side thereof, the toes o f successive roll guardscoacting to bridge the intervening space between the successive rollsfor limiting the rise of work therebetween.

2. In a flat work iro'ner, including a succession of ironing rolls withlapped cover cloth: guard members associated with the individual rolls,extending over substantially the exposed portion of a roll and bearingupon both the feed and delivery sides thereof to retain its cover cloththereon, and yieldable guide toes associated with the respective guardmembers and extending substantially horizont-ally therefrom over aportion only of the intervening roll space at the feed side of a rolland at the delivery side thereof, the toes of successive roll guardseoacting to bridge the intervening space between the successive rollsfor limiting the rise of Work therebetween and the toe on the feed sideof a roll being slightly above its coacting toe.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

CHARLES EDVIN HAMILTON, SR.

